Japandex Day 17!

BATTLE ROYALE by MARTIN EDEN
It's me again! I have a couple more pics up my sleeve too lol...
When people get in touch about contributing to Japandex, I am now struggling a bit to think of any more ideas, but there are still probably loads more obvious things out there. Battle Royale is a pretty obvious one, but I didn't think of it until last week. I invited someone to do it who I thought would be peeerfect, but he had something else in mind, so I did it myself!
If you haven't seen Battle Royale, go and watch it now, it's amazing! It's about a bunch of Japanese school-kids who get stuck in a bizarre game on an island. They are each given a weapon and basically have to kill each other until only one of them is left!!
The pic was a good opportunity to draw Diva in a Britney Spears school uniform (as Britney was partly the inspiration for the character!).

Japandex Day 16 (I got my numbers wrong lol)

BUTCH AND MR MUSCLES by JOHN WORKMAN
Did you ever read Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol? Or Walt Simonson's Thor? How about the new Turf series by Jonathan Ross and Tommy Lee Edwards? Well if so, you know John Workman, cos he's one of comics' Lettering legends!!!
I worked with John in my day job. When I worked on the John Barrowman comic strip in the Torchwood Magazine a couple of years ago, the artist, Tommy Lee Edwards, wanted to work with John Workman, so we did, and I've used John on every subsequent Torchwood comic strip since!
John's great - we email a lot, and he has soooo many anecdotes about the comic industry. He was also art director of Heavy Metal magazine, and created and drew many of his own comics. After I saw his work, I invited him to do a flashback page in the Torchwood comic, which he did such a good job of, and on the back of that, I invited him to take part in Japandex.
John came up with this image, which is so nice, so striking, and I love the fact it features Butch and Mr Muscles, because they don't get as much attention as some of the other characters.
Thanks John!!!
Tomorrow: Battle Royale...

Japandex Day 14!

TOKYO STORY by ANDREW CROSKERY
Andrew was another person who got in touch when I put a Japandex shout-out...out. He suggested this take on the movie poster for the classic 1953 movie Tokyo Story (http://www.ukquad.com/tokyo%20story.jpg) and I loved the idea! He submitted a greyscale version - in keeping with the original poster - but also sent this colour version, which I think works so nicely. Thanks Andrew!
Andrew is writing a new graphic novel and you can check it out here http://kronoscity.co.uk and you can check out a showcase for Irish talent, set up by Andrew and Stephen Downey, here: www.talesofthe.com/
He's also doing some illustrations for a new culture magazine which will be launched in Ireland later this year. You can also have a nose at his work here http://andrewcroskery.blogspot.com

Japandex Day 13!

THE J-TEAM by GRAHAM PEARCE
Graham Pearce has written and drawn his own comic, Sgt Mike Battle, for yeeears, he's part of the backbone of the UK small press scene, and we are occasionally table-mates at comic conventions.
I invited Graham to do a Japandex pic, and thought he should take a stab at the Japanese superteam, The J-Team, who were introduced in Spandex issue 2. I love the team, and hopefully they'll come back into the comic soon. They consist of the leader Salary Man, Harajuku Girl, Mr Tokyo, Facemask, Su Mo, Geisha and Fuji. Graham put together this stunning cover, and PJ Holden did an amazing job with the colours. I'd love to see them do a J-Team comic and have it on the news-stands tomorrow!!
Anyway, you should definitely check out Sgt Mike Battle as it is a hoot, a total parody of comics and a satire on current affairs stuff - have a look here - http://www.sgtmikebattle.co.uk/

Japandex Day 12!

LIBERTY by MELISSA SELBY
Melissa was one of the first people to get in touch with me about Japandex and we had a lovely chat about manga and anime. She did a li'l Diva pic for me, so sweet, Diva in the rain, and she did this pic for Japandex too - Liberty with a manga twist. Sweet, eh? Melissa is actually doing her GCSEs at the moment, but wants to be an artist when she is older. You go, girl!!!
(Got some DOOZIES coming up this week!!! Stay tuned!)

Japandex Day 12!

INDIGO by TONY McGEE
Tony is one of us small pressers/indie guys. He's currently working on an excellent medieval sorcery witchy epic called Outcastes, which boast some of the most stunning covers I've ever seen on any comic. Beautiful! You can check out Tony's goods here: http://truestories.awardspace.com/
I invited Tony to take part in Japandex and he came back with this lovely shot of Indigo, with a li'l Japanese twist.
Enjoy!
(Still need maybe five Japandexers just to make sure I fill out the month, but no biggie if I don't! martrpeden@yahoo.co.uk)

Japandex Day 11!

'NEON V SANTA' by PAUL RAINEY
What can I say about Paul Rainey? Well, first up, he's not a colleague of mine! He's a friend I met through various comic conventions over the years, and our friendship has 'blossomed' into sharing comic con tables and being comic con travel buddies (don't ask about the 'KFC incident' and when I almost killed us both on the motorway journey to Leeds).
Paul has been doing his own comics for years and years. He did stuff like Memory Man, and more recently he published his first book, the Book of Lists, which is a laugh-a-minute look at the awkwardness of life (including tips on snubbing a colleague on the stairwell). He did a very funny strip, 'Telephone Thing', about a guy who starts dating a sexline lady, and he also did a '2000AD prog slog', where he read and reviewed every issue of 2000AD. He's currently bringing his epic series, There's No Time Like The Present, to an end, with the final issue due out soon.
If you see him at a comic con, buy stuff, cos it's so funny and you won't regret it. Alternately, you can order stuff through here: http://www.pbrainey.com/
I liked seeing Paul's version of Neon - good package, Paul!